26th Street Buckles In North Baltimore Near Site Of 2014 Collapse

BALTIMORE, MD — After 26th Street began buckling and a retaining wall cracked in Charles Village Monday, city transportation officials cordoned off roads in the area. Part of 26th Street is closed and so are two blocks of North Calvert Street.

Authorities are asking drivers to avoid the area for the next few days to sidestep delays.

The area of the damage — East 26th Street between Guilford Avenue and North Calvert Street — is about two blocks from the site on 26th Street where an embankment collapsed in 2014.

_{Photos from the 2014 collapse by Elizabeth Janney.}

On Monday, city crews and CSX personnel collaborated to determine whether the retaining wall near the train tracks was structurally sound.

After assessing the situation, they began taking out the sidewalk and dismantling the retaining wall, an effort that city transportation officials said would continue overnight to ensure that area was stabilized.

The photo on the left was taken just 5 hours ago. @FOXBaltimore pic.twitter.com/Ho9gJ1gW6O
— Liz Ortiz (@EOrtizTV) November 26, 2018

Inspectors will be on-site monitoring the situation on 26th Street around the clock, the Baltimore City Department of Transportation reported Monday night.

"Once this area is secured, plans for a new wall will be developed and CSX can resume operations along the rail line," the Baltimore City Department of Transportation said in a statement.

These areas will be closed while crews work on the road until further notice:

• East 26th Street will be closed between Guilford Avenue and North Calvert Street.
• North Calvert Street is closed between East 25th and East 27th streets for equipment staging.

Three people called to report the road was caving in Monday morning, according to The Baltimore Sun. Mayor Catherine Pugh said it would be "a number of days" before the issue was resolved, the newspaper reported Monday afternoon.

Vehicles were towed and inspectors reportedly converged along 26th Street after the sidewalk gave way.

Following the activity on 26th Street, CSX stopped freight service, according to WBAL.

The incident on Monday was blocks from the embankment that collapsed several years ago.

Photos from the 2014 collapse by Elizabeth Janney.

A sidewalk, retaining wall, gate, cars and part of 26th Street fell onto the CSX tracks between Saint Paul and Charles streets in 2014 in that incident.

Here's the latest visual of what's going on over on East 26th Street, which is sinking again, via @BaltSunVisuals. Story: https://t.co/JNTnpxVcjd pic.twitter.com/UGANHasBTN
— Kevin Rector (@RectorSun) November 26, 2018

Those beyond 26th Street may be affected in the latest infrastructure incident.

Officials alerted residents on Calvert Street that they could have to evacuate, according to WBAL.

#breaking emergency management warning residents along calvert they will have to evacuate *if* the retaining wall along 26th collapses #wbal pic.twitter.com/yF59ltnbf1
— Kim Dacey WBAL (@kimdaceywbal) November 26, 2018

Calvert st now shut down at 25th street. As crews assess stability of wall along 26th st #breaking #wbal pic.twitter.com/miOeglAnMc
— Kim Dacey WBAL (@kimdaceywbal) November 26, 2018

#developing city dept of transportation confirms they relocated cars along 26th street between calvert and guilford #wbal pic.twitter.com/VBlDqCrLLh
— Kim Dacey WBAL (@kimdaceywbal) November 26, 2018

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SEE ALSO:

• 'Working Around the Clock': CSX Responds To 2014 North Baltimore Embankment Collapse
• Massive Sinkhole in Baltimore Swallows Vehicles

Image of 26th Street buckling via YouTube/WBAL.